Blinken in Egypt after Tel Aviv talks; Hamas rejects new ceasefire terms

Foreign media report that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who visited Tel Aviv yesterday to persuade Israeli officials to agree to a ceasefire, has arrived in El Alamein, Egypt today, Tuesday, August 20.

According to reports, Blinken is on a regional tour to revitalise ceasefire negotiations in Gaza. After departing Tel Aviv, the Israeli capital, he will travel to Qatar.

Before leaving Tel Aviv, Blinken assured that Israel would return to negotiations to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and urged Hamas not to deviate from the negotiating path.

Agence France-Presse reported that Blinken held a three-hour meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon his arrival in Tel Aviv. Following the meeting, Blinken confirmed that Israel supports the ceasefire plan for Gaza.

The U.S. State Department said: “Blinken confirmed that Israel accepts and supports the proposed agreement. It is now Hamas’s turn to do the same. What I can say to Hamas and its leadership is that if you truly care about the Palestinian people, agree to this plan and allow work on its implementation to proceed.”

However, Hamas has refused to accept the ceasefire. Officials from the group claim that new conditions added by Israel to the ceasefire proposal have created “ambiguities.”

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan stated that the current ceasefire plan is “not what was initially presented to us and agreed upon.”

He also noted, “We do not need new ceasefire negotiations for Gaza; we need to agree on an implementation mechanism.”

The ongoing disagreements and added conditions highlight the challenges in reaching a lasting ceasefire. Blinken’s diplomatic efforts continue as he moves to Qatar, and the international community watches closely to see if an agreement can be reached amid the rising tensions.

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